1 of 4 | A Russian rescuer carries a girl, victim of the earthquake out of the remains of a house in Port-au-Prince on January 16, 2010, after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused severe damage near Port-au-Prince on January 12. UPI/Anatoli Zhdanov |
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Rescuers are still finding survivors amid the rubble of buildings destroyed by an earthquake that hit Haiti last Tuesday.
More than five days after the magnitude 7 quake ravaged the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, international teams of searchers reported finding people alive as they dug though mounds of wrecked structures. A Dane was pulled from what used to be the U.N. headquarters in Port-au-Prince and a young girl was found in the wreckage of a market.
But those tales of survival are likely to become very rare and the scope of the earthquake's toll is becoming more apparent. Officials told the BBC at least 70,000 bodies had been buried and a U.S. general said the final death figure will be two or three times that number.
Relief flights were reaching Port-au-Prince's airport, delivering tons of food and water and medical teams and supplies. Supplies were reaching some of the thousands of people who survived the quake but were left without shelter or food and water.
But with people getting desperate, there are signs of breakdown of civility. Authorities worked to keep food distribution areas orderly. Police said they shot at least four men accused of looting, which was reportedly becoming more prevalent.
